Fruits of One's Ordeal
by Dubledolix09
Summary: Taking place in the Beat Rider Saga, all the Armored Riders (including Zangetsu) are preparing for a tournament that's about to come up, but when strange enemies come around, what will be of the riders, and their world? Warning: Contains spoilers
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was another sunny day at Zawame City, families and friends walk together in the streets, and people enjoy the antics of a young group of dancers known as the Beat Riders, teenagers who dance in their own personal stages to bring about happiness to the city. Recently, however, dancing has been overshadowed by the growing popularity of the Inves Games, a matchup where two teams bet their points through summoning monsters from another dimension through their Lockseeds, the losing monster results in the corresponding team to lose points to the opposing team.

Lately, there was all but two teams who have neglected the need for dancing. Team Gaim and Team Baron, the former is led by a tough, but kindhearted girl named Mai, in place of the missing leader Yuya, and the latter is lead by power hungry, cynical Kaito Kumon, who holds belief that the world is led primarily by the strong to discriminate the weak. At some point, Inves came from the same world the Beat Riders used to play the Inves Games, known as Helheim, to which warriors of the teens known as Armored Riders take the mantle to deal with these threats.

* * *

><p>At Team Gaim's stage.<p>

Kouta was just on a stroll around the usual dance area for his team ever since he rejoined, he sometimes also walked around the area while no one's around so he could practice his Rider powers in peace. He walked into front of the stage set, where he has the most room to practice.

"Yosh, now then…" he pulls out his Sengoku Driver and slaps it against his belt, a golden belt wraps around his waist, tying the Driver to his being. He had problems in his fights against Inves and sometimes other Armored Riders, especially Bravo and Baron, due to his lack of knowledge and experience with the device, despite being the first one to have worn it. From his pocket, he pulls an Orange Lockseed, he yells "Henshin!" and unlocks it.

"**Orange!**" announced the Lockseed, a zip-like crack opens above Kouta, descending from it is a metallic Orange. Kouta then does his signature Henshin pose, he swings his arms along with his waist before raising it in the air, he slaps the Lockseed onto his Sengoku Driver, then pushes the Lock down.

"**Lock On!**" was heard from the Sengoku Driver, it plays a japanese instrumental music until Kouta turns the cutting blade on his Driver.

"**Soiya! Orange Arms! Hanamichi On Stage!**" the Orange above Kouta descends further and covers his head completely, a helmet forms around Kouta's head, and a blue full body suit covers his body. The result is a orange samurai-themed torso armor along with a orange sword in his right hand that looks like sliced Orange, the sidearm is a samurai saber attached to his left. There stands Armored Rider Gaim, "Alright, now then, how should we start?" he stands there, tabbing his own shoulder with his sword, before turning the cutting blade three times. "**Soiya! Orange Sparking!**" the orange armor unfolds back into its original fruit-like form, Gaim grabs the fruit on his head, "First, can I take this off?" he says to himself, and surprisingly enough, he did.

He effortlessly lifts the sphere that surrounds his head, he takes a second to look at it before realizing. He freaks upon sight of the object, "Eehhhhh!" he steps back and drops it. The fruit impacts the ground, then floats right back up; curious, Gaim playfully thrusts his palm forward, and the fruit moves accordingly, impacting the wall in front of him and bouncing back at him, Gaim reacts quickly and kicks it, launching it against the wall again. The fruit lands a mark on the wall, chipping away a large amount of rock and leaving a sizable crater on it. Gaim grabs the fruit, "Hehehe, alright, this is fun." he twirls the sphere before looking at the damage done by him. He scratches his head, "Heh, sure hope we don't get to pay for that."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere at Team Baron's base, leader Kaito was lounging at his table, playing with the cards in his hands and performing neat tricks with them, his right hand Zack was bored out of his mind and stares into space, and Peko was looking at the TV for the news of the Team rankings. DJ Sagara's show goes up, a blog is seen as the man sits at the center screen. "Helloooo, Beat Riders and civilians of Zawame City! Today, due to numerous fan requests, Yggdrasil is hosting a tournament at the Superbowl field, for each of the Armored Riders of the Beat Riders, with a bonus guest appearance of fan favorite, Armored Rider Bravo! This hosting will last up to December 2, so let us prepare for the epic battle ahead while we still can! You hearing this, Beat Riders!? Get your game up to ace!" he reaches down and pulls out a toy gun with a DJ disc attached just below the barrel, he scratches it while looking at the camera with his mouth puckering in an "O" shape position.<p>

The video blacks out due to it being at maximum duration, then the showing of the Beat Rider rankings appears on screen, with Team Baron at 3rd place, below Team Pop Up and Team Gaim, the latter of which is 1st place. Peko gets upset and slams his hands on the table. "Dang it! Team Gaim probably thinks they're so cool, having the highest rank! The only reason they made it this far was because that adult-wannabe, Kouta, joined them. Without him, they would be nothing!" he storms around the room during his ranting, almost to the point of blowing a fuse and using his slingshot to shoot at the closest window. Zack finally stops zoning out and speaks to Kaito, who is still just lounging.

"Kaito, we're lucky so far, but it's only time before we're sunk down the ranks again, maybe forever." Kaito stops playing with his cards and slams them on the table, he turns to Zack and answers, "Hmp, only the teams with Armored Riders have a chance to surpass us in rank, that would be Team Raid Wild, Invitto, and Gaim. Everyone else are just going to be the weaklings they are and wobble behind in the rankings, for the strong make entrance and soar through the rankings." Peko throws a hissy fit again at the mention of Gaim's efficiency, "Errhh! I hate that team so much, I wish I could kill them!", Zack turns to him frowning commenting "Ironic, cause you were invited to their team", Peko stamps his foot like a spoiled child, to which Kaito glares at him to stop. "Do not worry, we'll get stronger somehow, and force the weak to where they really belong, within the gutter."

He pulls out a grape card and tosses it against a pillar near Peko, slashing through it down to halfway of the card.

* * *

><p>At Team Gaim Base, Micchy was putting magnetized plates on the chalkboard to where the rankings of the Teams lie, with Gaim obviously the highest. He turns to his team, trying to explain his latest plan to the group, due to his talent of being the smartest of the bunch. "Alright, we're at the very highest of the ranks, but no doubt they're going to prepare for the Armored Rider Tournament, so I develop a plan to prepare for this event." He walks about and reveals the Suika Lockseed, the most powerful Lockseed belonging to the team, originally belonged to his older brother, Takatora, before stealing it.<p>

Everyone stared in confusion, Mai speaks up "What are you planning to do with that?" Micchy just smiles, "Bravo and Baron are going to be part of this, so we would need to adjust ourselves to new levels of challenge, by adapting and conquering our own armory. Kouta-san used this lockseed to defeat Bravo and that giant Inves, the other teams would be wary of this."

Another member of Gaim, Rat, puts two and two together, "So basically, we're having either of you guys use that lockseed on the other, to train?" Micchy nods, "Suika Lockseeds are the rarest lockseeds around, but they are not impossible to obtain, two weeks are enough for the other teams to obtain it through enough cash or resource. That's why, we need to increase our chances and resources to prepare for the worse."

Chucky shakes her head, "But brute strength isn't going to be everything, all Lockseeds as far as we see have different powers and weapons, strategy seems to the real key factor in this."

Micchy answers back, "Indeed, but me and Kouta-san both have lockseeds that adapt to different situations. I have the grape Lockseed that enables me ranged combat and aggressive shots, and Kiwi that gives me melee capabilities and multi-range attacks. Kouta-san has his Orange, that is a near-purely melee fighter, Pine the heavy hitter, and Strawberry the long range hit-and-run attacker. This lockseed I got for him however is a master of nearly everyone of these stats, it is the perfect sparring partner for the latter competition."

Rica speaks up, "But I also heard that the tournament will also have some things like, swimming, running, all those kinds of stuff." Micchy seems confident "Just let me handle that."

* * *

><p>In Yggdrasil Tower, Takatora and his three co workers, Minato, Sid, and Ryoma, are in Ryoma's study chamber, standing around one table, all four Energy Lockseeds and Genesis Drivers waiting in front of each of them. Takatora was the first to speak up, "Sid, Minato, Ryoma, it is time, let us combine our strengths."<p>

They take the Genesis Drivers and attached them to their waists, a silver belt is used in place of a golden one to bind the Drivers to the host. All four of the inner circle hold up their respective Energy Lockseeds.

"**Melon/Cherry/Lemon/Peach Energy!**" are announced from the Lockseeds, in a more deeper voice, they them on their Drivers, causing the Driver to announce "**Lock On!**" in a deep, masculine voice. They all push the lever attached to the side of the core, opening up their Lockseeds.

"**Soda!**" suddenly the Drivers malfunctioned and launches off of the four, blasting the four with a blast of electricity. Takatora breaks his fall with a roll and gets up in a kneeling position, Minato lands a three-point stance, and Sid and Ryoma fall flat to the floor, the latter almost giving no reaction whatsoever. They all get up to their feet, except for Ryoma, who looks to be in a coma. Takatora approaches him, "Ryoma?", the scientist spreads his fingers suddenly, signaling he's alive and well, but still not moving. "Just what are you doing?" asked Sid, who is adjusting his hat. "Oh, you know, just meditating" answered Ryoma, moving his hands and head a bit. Finally, Minato asks "For what?"

Professor Ryoma opens his eyes slightly, saying "Just wondering, just why it didn't…WORK!" he opens his eyes completely and his head lashed out toward the three in front of him, startling them. Ryoma gets up and fixes himself up, Takatora picks up one of the Energy Lockseeds and examines it. "I guess the tournament is necessary after all. Ryoma, how much data do we need?" Ryoma looks at Takatora, "Well, let me just check."

He goes to his computer, types on the keypad and pops the reading signs of an Armored Rider, a number written as "50%" is listed below it. "With the data we collect being divided into four Drivers at once, I'd say that maybe a month at most." Takatora squeezes his nose bridge in annoyance. After he's done cooling, he picks out his phone and calls the directors of the Tournament, "Hello? How's everything going along?"

"We're almost finished, sir, now we just need those kids to participate."

"Excellent" Takatora turns off the phone, Ryoma suddenly asked him something, "Takatora, I'm afraid I need you to participate in the Tournament as well, along with the Beat Riders." This surprises everyone in the room, especially Takatora who specifically said he wouldn't join. "What's the meaning of this?" asked Minato, Ryoma just grins "Well, with the progress we're at, we may not have the Drivers in time before a big Inves swarm were to come by, and we won't deal with the world 10 years from now." Takatora relents, "Very well, let this be known throughout the building." Sid grins and walks out of the room. After he leaves, Minato also smirks and looks to the other direction.

Ryoma thinks to himself, _What Takatora doesn't realize, the real reason I need the Drivers was simply because I needed them for a very important mission in mind. To become strong enough to deal with Helheim, and pluck the fruit of knowledge, the fruit that grants immortality and godlike power._

* * *

><p>At Oren's apartment, the former soldier was doing push ups in his room in preparation of the tournament. It is rude for a professional to give a dull performance after all. "100…101 ngh…102 ehh…103 ah!…104 d'oh…105 nrgh…106 rrggg…107 mercy…108 warmer…109 hand on fire…110!" he gets and stands on his knees, arms stretched outward dramatically, "<em>Fini, tout set fait, et prêt<em>." He gets up and rests on his chair, "Well, I suppose I am getting rusty, comes with being old. Shoulder up, face straight, eyes narrow, a professional like myself should teach those amateurs a thing or two of what true battling really is. Those brats with their powers will be too spoiled to understand what an adult or the world is like." He stops to see a purple glow outside of his window.

"Pardon?" he gets up to see what was going on, to his shock, he sees a purple circle forming at the street at night. Oren examines the thing from distance, a black appears from the circle, or portal for that matter, soon the arm appears, and soon afterwards the entire body. A sengoku driver appears to be attached to the waist, but the armor attached appears far more different than the rest of the Riders, it had a skeletal, almost demon-like appearance, the helmet having nothing a pitch black visor. It reaches to its torso area, it tightens its grip, and out comes a sword being formed out of the thing's armor. It talks a walk down the street, a car comes by rams straight at it. The driver notices the being in front of him, he hits the breaks and takes a turn, the tires screeching as it drags along the road, the being holds up its sword and with one swift strike, it cuts the car in two clean, the driver's seat still being dragged safely across the street.

The being rushes to the driver's door, it punches its hand through the door and rips it out, the driver screams as he was being forced out of the car and being dragged into the portal with the unknown being. "Somebody, help, help!" he begged, but no one listened, nor is anyone there to help. Oren last sees the man and the being disappear into the portal and out comes another being of the same exact suit.

"This does not look good, _dieu les sauver._" Oren grabs his driver and instantly runs out, hoping to stop the strange beings.

What will become of our famous French patissier?

* * *

><p>The end.<p>

Just for you to know, the french phrases used by Oren are "Finished, all done, and ready" and "God save them" respectively. Let me know what you think in the reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

Oren was running down the halls of the bottom floor, and out the front doors, he puts on his Driver immediately, and picks out his Durian Lockseed. He unlocks it, causing the Lockseed to announce "**Durian!**", he inserts the Lockseed on his Driver and locks it in place, "Lock On!" was heard at the same time Oren announced "Henshin!". He turns the cutting blade and unlocks the Lockseed, an american guitar riff is heard from the Sengoku Driver, a crack opens above Oren to reveal the Durian style armor descending down on his head.

"**Durian Arms! Mr. Dangerous!**" Oren's green Armored Rider body suit envelops his body, the outer armor on his head folds into a spiked torso armor. He claps the two swords that are formed in his hands, exclaiming "Let's go!"

Down somewhere in the sidewalk, a woman walks holding hands with her daughter, then suddenly one of the unknown beings leap out of nowhere in front of them, the woman and girl screamed in fear, the being dashes towards them, but before it can lay a hand on either, one of Bravo's swords hit it like a boomerang, scratching its armor at the same time pushing aside.

"Halt!" yelled Bravo, he fly kicks the assaulter into a wall then pushes him aside. Bravo looks at the two civilians behind quickly, "Get to safety!". The girl and her mother nodded yes, the mother lifts her child up and makes a run for it. Bravo turns his attention towards the being in front of him, "Now, care to tell me what is it you're after? Speak up, or else." He peers at the waist of his opponent, it was a Sengoku Driver, not unlike the ones he and the Beat Riders have, but it has a different faceplate.

"That belt…where did you get it!" demanded Bravo. The unknown Armored Rider gets itself up, "None of your concerns." He lifts his hand up, a dark ominous aura flows around it, he stretches his arm forward at Bravo, out stretches a large, purple, clawed arm reaching out and grabbing Bravo by his whole body, squeezing him to the point he practically can't move. Bravo unsuccessfully struggled to get free, the hand enveloping him raises him high into the air, then violent slams him back to the ground.

"Itai…" Bravo had barely enough time to recover as the hand still smashes him against the nearby buildings. Rubble hits the ground as the helpless Rider is in the mercy of his foe, Bravo gathers the strength to reach his Sengoku Driver, turning the cutting blade twice.

"**Durian Au Lait!**", a bright green aura surrounds Bravo, it overpowers the hand gripping him dead, evaporating it into purple mist. The unknown Armored Rider seems to be affected, he steps back the moment the dark in his hand disappeared, he pants to himself, exhausted as though he had jogged too much. Bravo recreates his two swords in his hands, he lifts them up in the air to create a giant, Durian-shaped energy ball as large as himself. With one mighty throw, the energy blast hits the unknown Armored Rider head on, a large explosion was made, and when the smoke clears, the enemy has collapsed to the ground.

"Done yet?" said the gladiator Rider, the downed Armored Rider in front of him struggled to get back up to his feet, "Well then, _coup de grace_. A professional like myself shall let the authorities have you answer for your crimes." The moment Bravo takes another step forward, two additional unknown Armored Riders of the same armor set barge in between them and attacked Bravo. They both swing their swords at him, Bravo quickly blocks both blades with his swords and pushes back. Another one of the threats picks up the downed member and runs to safety.

Bravo's attention turned to the running men, "Don't you run away from me!" He blocks a sword strike from one of the soldiers and pushes the blade upward to knock him off balance, to which Bravo takes the opportunity to stab him in the ribs with both his swords. The soldier's body rolls in front of the remaining one. "Tiro Finale!" he turns the cutting blade of his Sengoku Driver three times, "**Durian Sparking!**" was heard, spikes on all of his armor glow neon-green, a storm of spikes fire outward and directed themselves toward the two people and struck them, obliterating them in a fiery explosion, leaving behind not even a corpse, to Bravo's shock and horror.

"What!?" he examines closer to the area they were standing on, he sees just piles of ash, blowing across the ground by the wind to hammer it home further. Bravo turns off his Driver and Lockseed, disintegrating his Armored Rider suit in glittering light, he speaks to himself, "There were no bodies underneath the armor? Armored Riders are supposed to return to human form upon being defeated, but they just disappeared. What in world are these fellows?"

* * *

><p>The next day, Team Gaim are inside of their base as usual, Mai, Rica, and Rat are practicing their dancing while Micchy tries to arrange his Lockseeds. He heard from Kouta about the latter's training gave him an idea concerning the armor that attaches and detaches from the Armored Riders and how they are used.<p>

***Flashback***

"Hey, Micchy" Kouta said.

"What?" Micchy replied. He and Kouta were at Drupers listening to Sagara's channel and random commercials. Kouta continued, "About these Sengoku Drivers we have, you remember when I saved Kaito from that giant Inves?" Micchy nods confusingly, Kouta takes out his Orange Lockseed and shows it to him "I found that the armor that are summoned can be removed and thrown around."

"Really? But how does that help in us in the tournament?" asked Micchy, Kouta puts away his lockseed into his pocket "Not only that, but we can control the armor out of our will alone, I tried it out, I just thrusted my hand and it jet against the wall."

Micchy stopped drinking his milkshake and looks at Kouta in amazement, "So you're saying, we can use the armor as voluntary projectiles? Not bad actually, but it does make us vulnerable since we won't be having armor."

Kouta straps on his driver, and remembers back to when he first used Pine Arms. He kicks his flail onto the Evolved Shika Inves' head and it wraps around it, restraining it, then finishes it with a mighty kick through the stomach. After finishing with memory lane, Kouta takes out his Pine Lockseed and unlocks it, "**Pine!**" was heard as a crack opens up for the Pine armor above Kouta, with force of will like he said, it moves directly just in front of him, he grabs it in his hands. "Not just that, but I also think using it like a restraint piece." Suddenly, Kouta slams the armor onto Micchy, the latter's head fitting perfectly into the bottom hole where the Rider heads go. Micchy was caught in surprise, he and Kouta both laughed as the teen struggled to get the armor off of him, with Kouta pushing it downward on him.

Bando walks up to them and disturbs their ruckus, "Excuse me, but I believe you're disturbing my customers." Kouta looks around the parlour and sees several people looking at him weird, he turns his gaze back at Bando and apologizes, "Eh, sorry Bando-san, I was just showing Micchy a new trick I learned." He leans his elbow on Micchy's shoulder, who spins the unfolded armor around his head. "Yeah whatever, just try to keep a low profile, I heard there are mysterious kidnappings/disappearance going around the city" he turns attention to Micchy playing with the Pine armor, "also take that thing off." He walks away, Micchy lifts the pine and peeks through the bottom of the base area.

***Flashback ends***

Micchy takes out the Suika Lockseed and places in between his Grape and Kiwi lockseeds. _Least I'm not the only to think everything for the group_, he thought to himself, today he and Kouta are going to practice the Suika Arms like he planned, with incorporation of the new techniques Kouta came up with. Suddenly, Kouta and Chucky barged in through the door, panting. Everyone stops what they were doing and confronts them.

"Oi, what's the matter?" Mai spoke up, seeing the two in front of her panting like they saw a ghost. Chucky catches her breath and speaks up, "You gotta read this." She hands out a flyer that says "98 Citizens Went Missing". Mai widen her eyes in shock, she grabs the papers in her hands and examines it, Rica and Rat looking through her shoulders.

Kouta paces around the room looking for a television remote, Micchy approaches him, "Something wrong Kouta-sa-" before he can finish, Kouta suddenly blurts out "Micchy, find the remote, this is an emergency!" Micchy walks to his desk and picks up the remote Kouta was looking for, without a second's wait, Kouta grabs it and turns on the tv. The screen shows a man in an interview, with the warning sign Chucky brought in behind on the small panel.

"We are experiencing news that the disappearance of people is becoming a more concerning threat. Rumors range from unknown absence to possible kidnapping, we here have a woman and her daughter being first hand witness of the possible explanation of the events."

The view shifts to the two saved by Bravo the other day. The mother speaks up first, "Yesterday, me and my daughter were attacked by a black armored Rider that approached us when we were out for a walk." An interviewer speaks up, "Was it Kurokage?" The mother shook her head, she says "No, it looked way too different from him, the eyes and armor were much different. We were saved by Bravo that night, he pushed him back and told us to run, I don't know about the other people being kidnapped though."

After seeing the video, everyone looked at each other in shock. "A black armored rider?" replied Rat, Rica replied "I'm pretty sure that only Hase has a black under suit." Micchy picks up all of their given Lockseeds, "One more piece of evidence we need is what Lockseed did they use, she probably didn't Kurokage because he was wearing different armor sets at the time." Chucky nods, "That's true, Kouta-san and everyone keep on looking different and unique from whichever armor they where, regardless how similar they still look. Just look at between Pine and orange."

Mai speaks up, "The Beat Riders in general can be jerks, but I don't believe that they would hurt anyone intentionally, at least not people who don't do anything to them." Kouta scratches his chin, "The Beat Riders are more concerned with their points and rankings, they wouldn't just attack people out of the blue at the expense of that. They said that Charmant saved the girls in the news right? Maybe he can provide us more info."

Speak of the devil, the news show Bravo in full Armored Rider get up, sitting in an interview. Mai instantly went into fangirl mode upon seeing him, "OREN-SAMA!" everyone besides Micchy groan but ignored her blind fangirlism over the guy who tried to upstage them. The man Bravo is interviewing with asks "Mr. Bravo, how did your brave action took place?" Bravo rubs under his nose area in embarrassment, "Well, it all started when I was in my hotel and saw a bright purple light on the streets, and out came an Armored Rider of unknown origins. It was as black on the outside as its insides, though it wasn't that black armored rider, Kurokage was it? It had a different, unrecognizable lockseed and different armor. Not only that, but it was capable of creating some kind of giant hand made of dark energy, it uses it to grab my whole body and smash me against building to buildings. But a professional like me didn't give up, I managed to dispatch it, but it along with its lackeys managed to get away to where it first came from." Team Gaim had their jaws dropped. "Thank you Mister Bravo, you have been great help to us." Bravo rubs the back of his head, "Hahaha, it was nothing. Oh, and one more thing, I'll make an exception of the Beat Riders to fight in the place of a professional like me, but should they neglect their duties, let that be proof of how unprofessional those kids really are." Kouta looks away from the Tv, gritting his teeth over Bravo's smugness.

The interview asks one last, final question "And what reward would they gain over fighting these threats." Bravo does his signature noblewoman laugh, "Consider this like a sort of training exercise for the Armored Rider Tournament, in addition, I would reward whoever I see worthy to work under my wing, and enter harsh education. One last thing, after the end of the tournament, I will supply you brave men with the finest desserts of my shop." The news ends, and Kouta turns off the tv. "Well, guess that answers much of our questions." says Kouta, but Rat remains cynical "But can we guarantee that he's speaking the whole truth?"

"We don't really have much of a choice" said Chucky. Micchy hid all three of his Lockseeds in his sweater pocket. "Well for right now, let's gather up information we've collected so far. First, it wasn't any of the Armored Riders we've known. Second, it has a lockseed and abilities that are different from us. And three, somehow, this enemy has captured almost a hundred people in a span of a week." Chucky pulls out a newspaper article, "There's also news about a car being sliced directly in two by the hood, and the driver was nowhere to be found." Micchy grabs the newspaper and examines it. It's bold heading read "Inhuman Car Incident".

Kouta smashes his fist against his palm, "Alright, as much as I hate that guy, it's up to us Beat Riders to deal with this problem, and this time, _all_ of us are involved." Mai gets excited and walks up to Kouta "Will you ask Oren-san to give us free cake." Kouta nodded his head reluctantly.

* * *

><p>Takatora in his office heard news of the incidents just like the Beat Riders. "What?" to an employee in front of him. "People in Zawame are being kidnapped by people resembling Armored Riders?"<p>

"Yes" replied the employee. "People are being locked in their houses as we speak." He hands Takatora a data pad that shows comments on the popular Beat Riders blog. The comments include as followed:

"The hell is going on!"

"I'M CALLING IT, ITS ONE OF ARMORED RIDERS!"

"Idiot, didn't you hear Bravo? It was just someone looking like Kurokage."

"If it isn't Kurokage, then who is it?"

"Who knows, he's the only black guy of the Riders."

"Is this a terrorist act?"

Takatora takes a deep breath to calm himself down, he hands the data pad. "Continue as schedule, enforce defenses given by the police. The other Armored Riders should be able to handle this, there are six of them after all."

"Yes sir." The secretary walks away, and exits out the doors. Takatora is left sitting by himself, practically groaning from the situation. He needs answers, what are these people, what is their motivation, why target Zawame of all places? He knows the only way to know is to find and get answers from one of the apparent Armored Riders responsible for the disappearance.

"I only pray that this doesn't get in the way of Project Ark or the production of the Sengoku Drivers."

Takatora enters Professor Ryoma's lab, he approaches the man on his computer, trying to manage the data collected by the Beat Rider's battles. "Ryoma" Takatora's voice reaches down to the quirky doctor's ears, he turns to see his former friend glaring at him. "Oi oi, what seems to be the problem?" Takatora still frowns, "Ryoma, how many drivers have you made so far, aside from the Genesis Drivers?"

"Oh, the cases. I only made up to 7, which is you, Oren, and the Beat Riders, nobody should be able to access Sengoku Drivers without my say in it." Takatora squeezes his fingers between his eyes, frustrated. "Could it be that someone managed to copy your blueprints and make Drivers of their own?"

"Only way they could do that is if we ship the designs to them, which we sure as hell haven't. Besides, all of my blueprints are with me. The real question should be what lockseeds are Bravo talking about actually."

"Indeed, if somehow they achieved Lockseeds that we don't have, this is serious, they can cause hysteria and massacres with that power."

"Only if they attack in broad daylight, the events are mostly set around night. So the best solution to look for them is at night."

Takatora walks out the laboratory, the moment he's gone. Ryoma's carefree expression suddenly turned to a devilish smirk. _Well, I don't know who is behind this, but someone capable of replicating my Drivers, interesting._

* * *

><p>Ryoji and Jonouchi were hanging out at Drupers as usual, where they heard rumors of the recent events. "Well, on the bright side, we can get some fighting experience by the time the tournament starts." Jonouchi being the calculating individual he is, just concludes the positive side effect of the bribe Bravo is giving. The hotheaded Ryoji Hase on the other hand, is a little more of the aggressive end of the spectrum.<p>

"Yeah, but those bastards just pretty much ruined my reputation."

"They didn't ruined your reputation, they just make people more concerned of you, just saying."

Hase smashes his heads on the desk he and Jonouchi are eating on, "Yeah that's the point, people will think I'm doing all this, I mean come on, really!?"

"Nobody has framed you, come on, Bravo said it wasn't you."

"I was just at home, sleeping!"

"Alright, how about this: We find out the mystery of these events, and we can be filthy rich and popular, we can be instantly on the top of the rankings."

Hase quietly goes back to his seat, smiling. "Huh, not a bad idea, Gridon. But where do we start?"

Hideyasu Jonouchi just laughs and takes off his glasses, "Simple, the most common sights: the streets."

* * *

><p>Team Pop Up were practicing their dancing at their stage, with two of their members just reviewing the rankings and news. "Ueh!" said Tomomi, "First the rankings, and now the news appear to be favoring the armored riders." Fellow member Akita was the next to speak, "You said it, these armored riders are getting on my nerves, there getting all the attention."<p>

Pop Up's dancing session was over, and leader Yasuda walks along where Tomomi and Akita are sitting at. "Oi, you two get ready for the next dance session."

"Yes, Yasuda-san!" said Tomomi.

"Whatever." said Akita.

Yasuda was left by herself thinking about her opinion on the armored riders. _Armored Riders, I know one of them is responsible for the kidnappings, let the city know of their sins, _she thought to herself, mostly feeling jealously and envy toward the Armored Riders for their power and popularity.

"Oi, Yasuda!" yelled one of her team members, Yasuda turns around and bears a smile, "Coming!" She runs straight where her team is.

* * *

><p>Team Red Hot are at their local hangout spot. They too have seen Bravo's interview of the disappearances. They became frustrated and angry due to the fact that the same guy who kicked them out of the cake shop, and took their leader's Sengoku Driver for himself, was the guy treated as the "hero" of the event from yesterday.<p>

"Man! Even second place Team Pop Up lost ranks towards all the teams with Armored Riders. This is lame!" complained a black a blond haired kid in the group, named Kevin. Another teen with glasses named Gene spoke up to leader Sonomura, "Sono-san, what are we going to do?"

Sonomura sat straight up after lying down, he bore a angry look on his face, contrast towards his usual cockiness and carefree attitude. "Tch, just let those idiots screw up, they'll slip up eventually. Those armored riders think they're invincible, they probably think they can solve this whole mystery shit."

"Well said." said Kevin. He takes out a Sunflower Lockseed from his pocket and examines it, "We can't do anything to them with our Inves, since we know Inves get stronger by eating other lockseeds, and Gaim can beat even those kinds of Inves."

Sonomura grabs a bag of chips, he rests it on his lap and takes his frustration out by eating bits of it, chip by chip, crunching his teeth like a shark eating its pray, glaring his sights on his vision of the Armored Riders.

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><p>Team Soten are practicing swordplay at their stage, then one of their members comes up to them with the news about Bravo's praise to the Armored Riders. Team Leader Hiroto, was the first to answer. "Is that so?" He puts his katana in its scabbard, he stumbles to where a poster of Armored Rider Gaim on a wall. With inhuman grace and speed, he draws his sword and cuts the poster clean in two.<p>

* * *

><p>At Team Baron base, Zack places two new Lockseeds on the table, for Peko and another Baron member to see. "What are these?" asked Peko, "These Lockseeds, are the newest ones Kaito has liberated, they can be the key to us finally being on the top ranks, and maybe to figure out these mysterious disappearances." Peko gets excited, "I could just smell eternal rankings and wealth." said the other Baron member, "You said it, Ricky." replied Zack.<p>

Outside, Armored Rider Baron is sparring with several Elementary Inves, each being controlled by his teammates, using the Lockseeds unlocked by Kaito since only Armored Riders can summon fully materialized Inves. One Inves behind Baron dashes at him, Baron turns his lance and blocks the blow behind him, he turns around and slashes it across the chest. Another Inves growls as it and the other Inves charge at Baron, causing Baron to turn his attention towards them, Baron runs and whacks one of them by the head, causing to thud the ground on its back. Before the other Inves can strike Baron, the latter uses the hilt of his weapon to jab it in the stomach, stunning it, and pushes it with the whole of his lance, then stabs it in the face by the tip of his spear. He proceeds to kick it to push it down on its hide.

"**Banana Squash!**", Baron generates a yellow aura around his lance, the three Inves surrounding him get back up to their feet and charge at him. Baron spins around, a large banana projecting erupts from his spear and impales the three monsters, obliterating them in a fiery explosion. The lockseeds in Kaito's teammates' hands launch themselves back into his hand, he grabs each of them mid-flight without losing stride. Zack and Peko approach their leader. "Oi, Kaito." said Zack.

Kaito deactivates his Sengoku Driver and Lockseed to converse with them. "Zack, did you inform the others of the Lockseeds?" Zack shakes his head, "Of course, sir. With these two lockseeds, we can dominate the rankings in no time at all." Kaito doesn't change his expression, only explaining "Having merely one real advantage over your foe is not sufficient, letting your guard down is a loser's choice." Peko stands next to him, smiling, "Yeah, but don't forget, you let your guard down when Raid Wild and Invitto turned on you." Kaito still doesn't react, he instead sticks out his hand to Zack, who gives him one of two of the Lockseeds. Kaito holds it up to show its features. "This Lockvehicle has the capability of flight, which should be useful against ground opponents."

Zack comments, "And of finding the people that are captured?" Kaito glares at him, causing Zack to step back a bit, "Weaklings unable to look after themselves deserve the penalty of losing their freedom. We will focus on the tournament for now, and escalate above the ranks, so that we can outdo everyone in power." Peko and Zack both looked at each other, giving the usual "here we go again" look at their leader's strength philosophy.

* * *

><p>At night, the armored riders (except Baron) are at night, rooming throughout the streets for clues. "So, where do we start." Kouta has his arms folded, his lockseed dangling by the holder on the side of his driver. "They said that all of the captures occur at night, so we should start out here." said Micchy, "If anyone screams or cries for help, that should our lead". Suddenly, they hear footsteps coming from nearby, Kouta and Micchy instantly run in between an alleyway, their eyes just next to the building they hide behind.<p>

As the shadows of the beings draw closer, Micchy and Kouta prepare their Lockseeds. The tension rises, then drops the moment that it turns out the shadows belong to Jonouchi and Hase, who too were investigating the mystery. "Man, this reeks, we're never going to find those hooligans." said Ryoji, who puts both hands in his pockets. "Be patient, Hase-chan," Jonouchi said, "patience is the key to gaining the gate hole." Kouta and Micchy sighed in relief, "It's just them" commented Kouta. Hase and Jonouchi take notice of the duo and walk to their direction. Their location exposed, Kouta and Micchy step out of hiding.

Hase folds his arms in front of him, smirking, "Well, well, if it isn't Gaim's armored riders, going on a nightly walk together." Kouta glares at Hase. "I suppose that you're here to solve the mystery of the disappearances?" said Jonouchi. "So what if we were?" said Kouta, who puts his hands over his hips, Micchy steps in and exclaims "Found any trace of the kidnappers?" Both Jonouchi and Hase shook their heads no, then suddenly a high-pitch screech heard from a distance. "AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"

"Does that count?" said Hase.

"Yeah, it does!?" exclaimed a panicked Kouta. He instantly runs to where the scream comes from. Everyone else runs after him. They eventually meet a dark alleyway, they looked at everything around as much as they could, they see no signs of woman who screamed or the possible kidnappers. "What the…" said Kouta, who is in disbelieve of the disappearance, Hase gets riled up and stomps the ground "This is nonsense! We should have the police or at least a detective to help us!" Jonouchi approaches him, "Yeah, ask for help and they'll just take all the fame and glory for themselves."

They eventually walk all over the city, until they see something unusual. "Look at that!", shouted Micchy. Everyone turns to see what he was pointing at, their jaws dropped at the sight of damaged buildings and a crater in the road, as though a large wrecking ball where to hit there. Hase was the first one to comment at it, "Did someone order a construction crew or something?" Kouta then puts two and two together, remembering Bravo's description of the kidnappers. "Charmant said that the kidnappers have some…magic hand power or something. You think this is what he was talking about?"

"Yeah," said Jonouchi, "the area here was closed off till they can fix it. Me and Hase-chan saw it on the newspapers." Micchy walks towards where the crater is and examines the size and depth of it by comparing it to his body. The hole was long enough for him to walk across for 3 seconds, and the depth is down to his shin. "The battle Bravo had must've have been intense. But, where is the body of the people he fought?" Kouta looks around and sees the ashes of the Armored Riders Bravo killed. "What the hell?" He walks up and examines it, he picks it up sees it slit through his hands like sand. Hase also takes notice and walks to where Kouta is, "Who the heck would leave this?" Jonouchi and Micchy walk to where Hase and Kouta is. "Well, there's our first evidence." said Micchy. Jonouchi begs to differ, "The police already is examining the samples of this, so let's look for other evidence." Everyone continues searching.

However, the moment they changed directions, a purple light shines before them, an orb appears to form. "Everyone, hide!" yelled Kouta, the others listened and hid to somewhere; Hase hides behind a car, Jonouchi hides behind a building and Micchy and Kouta hide behind a nearby trash bin. Everyone peeked out, and watched in awe over a shadowy being emerge from the orb. The portal behind it disappears, giving everyone a better view of the unknown Armored Rider Oren was talking about. It looked exactly like how it was described, similar to Kurokage yet obviously different. Kouta screams and runs out towards it, he instantly puts on his Driver and Lockseed. "Henshin!"

"**Orange Arms! Hanamichi On Stage!**" Gaim appears and strikes the unknown Armored Rider. His sword slashes across its side face, the being angrily responds by side-kicking him by the torso, sending Gaim flying on his behind. "Not gonna let him take all the glory" said Jonouchi, as he transforms into Gridon. "This is for framing me!" said Hase, as he changes into Kurokage. The two Armored Riders jump and cut in front of Gaim and attempted to strike the unknown Armored Rider with their weapons, only for it to block them with its forearms and, with a quick turn on its Sengoku Driver, activates his Squash attack.

"**Skeleton Squash!**", the unknown Armored Rider shouts a deadly roar and unleashes a wave of bones that sprayed on all three Armored Riders before it, the impact of each alone knocking them off balance on their legs, eventually smashing them into the building near Micchy. As the three struggle to stand, Micchy pulls out his phone and snaps a picture at the enemy Armored Rider, who was charging at him in response. Micchy panicked and put his phone away, Gaim sees his best friend about to be harmed and shouts "Micchy!" The enemy Armored Rider hacks its sword at Micchy, who dodge rolls underneath it and puts on his Driver. Before the enemy can make another maneuver, Gaim jumps onto it and grabs it by the back. Micchy pulls out his Grape Lockseed, "Henshin!"

The grape Lockseed unlocks announcing "**Budou!**", Micchy steps back one leg and puts his right arm back and thrusts it back forward, then puts the Lockseed into the Driver. His locks it into place and turns the cutting blade immediately. "Lock On! Hai! Budou Arms! Ryu, Hou, Ha-Ha-Ha!" Ryugen pulls the hammer behind his gun and takes aim at the enemy, whom Gaim and Kurokage is wrestling against. They both take notice of Ryugen and move aside so he could fire. "Go at em, Micchy!" shouted Gaim, Ryugen turns the Cutting Blade once, activating the Squash feature.

"**Hai! Budou Squash!**" a purple, transparent image of a dragon appears over Ryugen's gun and purple orbs hover around it, slowly reaching the barrel point. "This is revenge for giving a bad rep, I hope you enjoy your trip to hell in prison!" Kurokage snarled at the enemy Armored Rider. Ryugen shouts "Now!" and pulls the trigger, Gaim and Kurokage run out of the way as a string of gatling blasts from the Budou Ryuhou shoot out toward the enemy. However, it projects a dark aura in the shape of a hand like Bravo said it could, and uses it to block all the shots. Everyone expresses surprise at scene as Ryugen shouts "Masaka (No way)!"

The enemy swings its arm at Ryugen, who jumps upward to avoid the blow, he unsuccessfully shoots at the enemy Armored Rider due to the lack of aiming time. The dark hand retracts and smacks Ryugen across the buildings, scraping on them until he lands to the ground. Kurokage charges at the enemy, attempting to strike with his spear, the enemy dodges him and trips him by the foot. The dark hand reaches into the air and strikes down upon Kurokage, but Gaim jumps in and holds it off, with the Musou Saber Naginata Mode. He struggles but begins to lose to the immense pressure of the giant hand above him. Before giving in, he presses down the Cutting Blade twice. "Soiya! Orange Au Lait!" an orange colored aura appears over his weapon, giving him a boost over the hand, with a burst of strength, he shoves the hand away and slashes it in two with a powerful slash beam. The hand dissipated into small dark smoke, the aura around the enemy's hand disappears and causes it to step back reflexively, causing it to pant out of fatigue. Kurokage gets up to his feet and sees Gridon hiding in the corner.

"Oi, Gridon! Lend us a hand!" Jonouchi reluctantly listens and moves out of his hiding. He, Kurokage and Gaim all ran towards the weakened Armored Rider and strike at him all at once. Being on its last leg, the enemy can barely defend himself as the smaller riders wail at him. Ryugen runs back to the field and presses the Cutting Blade once, then leaps into the air. "Hai! Budou Squash!" purple aura surrounds Ryugen's foot as an image of a purple grape appears over him. "**Won't fail this time!**" exclaimed Ryugen.

"You said it!" exclaimed Gaim, he too presses down the Cutting Blade once for the Squash feature. "**Soiya! Orange Squash!**" Kurokage and Gridon follow suit as they use the Squash feature of their Sengoku Drivers to attack their target, the enemy Armored Rider. "**Soiya!/Come On! Matsubokkuri Squash!/Donguri Squash!**" Kurokage jumps and glides down, stabbing his spear downward while Gridon spins like a top and smashes his hammer, and finally Gaim slashes his sword horizontally by the torso. All four Riders land their attacks at the same exact time. A large explosion that covers the block was made, large smoke clouds form as the result.

"Is everyone alright!?" shouted Kouta, who had just turned back to human form from the explosion. "Of course we are!" shouted Hase, he walks to where Kouta's voice while waving his arms to sweep away the smoke. Soon, Jonouchi and Micchy ran to their center location, perfectly unscathed. Kouta smiles at their apparent victory, "Heh, well now's the time to put this guy behind bars, whoever he is." They all walk to where they remember where the enemy Armored Rider was standing, hoping to find him and put him behind bars. "Hold on!" said Micchy, "Something isn't right."

Micchy takes a step in front of the group and the rest follow. The smoke eventually clears and when it does, the enemy was gone! "Where'd he go!" shouted Kouta, he paces his head around for signs of the missing Armored Rider. Jonouchi adjusts his glasses "He's not here!" he yelled, he also looks around for signs of their culprit. Micchy looks further at the ground, he sees vaguely what appears to be black dust. Curious, he crotches down to it for easier examination. "Kouta-san! Try to get a handful of those dust we saw earlier."

Kouta arrives with the small amount of the black sand they examined earlier. He lowers it to Micchy, the latter looks between it and the black sand that is in front of himself. He stands up, having made a conclusion. "Gentlemen", he started, he points to the black dust just near his foot, "that thing, was the Armored Rider's "corpse"." Hase and Jonouchi both became jaw-dropped, Kouta drops the sand in his hand in disgust and shock, he drops to the ground on his knees. "You mean…" said Kouta. Micchy nods, "Bravo never just defeated the culprits. He killed them."

Silence filled the streets, to the point where the gang can the wind blowing in the city. The mystery they were in just turned into something like a supernatural movie, the enemies they fight are indeed people coming from portals out of nowhere, they kidnap people for reasons unknown, and they turn to dust as they die, ridding them of any precious lead or evidence. "W-what about the people they kidnapped?" said Kouta, still on his knees, "How can we rescue them if we don't where they are?"

Hase replies to Kouta's statement, "What do you mean, saving? They could probably have been killed by now." Silence again overwhelms the four, Micchy bites his lower lip, trying to figure out the mystery with his brain.

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><p>Sorry about how long it took for this chapter, school can be time consuming, especially if you had tech. Anyway, how do you think the chapter so far? Let me know in the reviews.<p> 


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